DA: Stabbing victim was witness to shooting

A 22-year-old woman stabbed Monday night in the Fairfax Gardens public housing project was attacked as retaliation for having stepped forward as a witness to a shooting there six months ago, according to the district attorney.

A 22-year-old woman stabbed Monday night in the Fairfax Gardens public housing project was attacked as retaliation for having stepped forward as a witness to a shooting there six months ago, according to the district attorney.

Jani DeSousa was set upon by at least two other women after entering the housing development to visit friends, Bristol County District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter said Friday.

She was stabbed multiple times and eventually transported to an unidentified hospital where she has been recovering, Sutter said.

Sutter said DeSousa has been living outside the Taunton area since his office used funds from the state’s witness protection board — funds intended to protect “critical witnesses” who may be in danger for cooperating with authorities investigating serious criminal offenses.

The money, he said, had been used to help DeSousa relocate.

Sutter declined to discuss the specifics of her injuries, but a Taunton police source said DeSousa had suffered a collapsed lung and stab wounds to her leg.

Warrants for the arrest of two women have since been issued, Sutter said.

Sutter described DeSousa as “a young person who had the courage to step forward and testify” after witnessing a violent crime that otherwise would likely go unsolved.

Sutter said his office will eventually seek an “extremely severe if not maximum sentence” for those charged in the stabbing.

That would include, he said, a maximum of 20 years respectively for attempted murder, armed assault with intent to murder and 10 years for assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to murder.

Sutter said witness cooperation and safety are crucial to criminal investigations.

“It’s absolutely essential to the public safety of people in Taunton, Bristol County and the United States of America,” he said. “We need to applaud, encourage and protect” those who do so.

Sutter said DeSousa is a witness to the October 2009 shooting on DeWert Avenue of then 20-year-old Admilson Marques of Brockton.

Francisco Gonzalez Jr. — who was 23 at the time and had been living on Somerset Avenue in Taunton — is accused of shooting Marques in the hip and is being held in Dartmouth’s Bristol County House of Correction for assault to murder and other charges.

“He was unable to post bail,” Sutter said.

The DeWert Avenue shooting resulted from a turf battle between young men from Brockton coming onto the grounds of the Taunton housing project, according to a March police report.

Sutter said DeSousa made an unfortunate decision to visit acquaintances in Fairfax Gardens, where she was recognized and assaulted.

Taunton Police Capt. Edward Walsh said DeSousa was able to run to an apartment after being stabbed and seek help.

As for the suspects, Walsh said, “We’re looking for them even as we speak.”